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Dear Loved Ones,

 

Greetings dear loved ones from sunny, warm Redding, CA!

 

Thank you all for your prayers for us this past week, during our multi-day journey back to America. Praise the Lord, we arrived safely into California only 63 hours after departing from Kyiv, Ukraine. Due to the ongoing war, traveling internationally from Ukraine has certainly extended travel time... by a lot! But we praise the Lord for His protection through four different border crossings, two trains, two planes and countless hours of sitting! And yet, even still, we are overly grateful for the speed of modern day transportation. We can't imagine what it must have been like for missionaries of centuries past who would spend four to six MONTHS traveling from their mission field back home! And we imagine, a little turbulence on an airplane would be nothing like weeks of rough waters on a ship out at sea! Thank the Lord that He is both Creator and controller of both the skies and the sea! It is good to be back home again!

 

We were blessed with a wonderful first few days at my brother, Jacob and his wife Dena's place in Yountville, CA. For those who don't know, Jacob took a state chaplaincy position at a veterans retirement facility in Yountville, Napa County. Interestingly, he is now a chaplain at the oldest veterans home this side of the Mississippi. The facilities date back to the 1880s! On Sunday we had the pleasure of meeting all the dear folks there and sharing about God's work in Ukraine. And due to the fact that most of the Matchak family came and took part in the Sunday activities, The congregation included a 101 year old grandma and a 4 month old baby (Ben and Abigail's baby). You can't preach to a wider age group! It was quite the welcome back to California!

 

This past Monday we made our way up to Redding, where we'll be based now for the foreseeable future. Loriann's dad, Ron, is doing fairly well, considering the circumstances. Though sadly, he is still waiting for an official surgery date. Maybe not for many of you, but the pace of doctors and the medical field here in the States, and maybe more specifically, here in Redding, to us is so shocking! It has now been two months since the end of his radiation treatment and last colonoscopy and MRI, and he is still waiting for doctor's assessments and a date for surgery. We are praying that this will be decided by as early as next week... Thank you to all who are praying for him. Please continue. Ron needs our prayers!

 

We also want to thank all of you who responded about our need for a car. We are looking at a couple of offers, though no final decision has been made. My brother Caleb, has kindly lent us the use of his car while he is on vacation with his family until the twelfth of October. We are grateful for his generosity. And thank you to each one who is praying for us and this need. We trust that the right car is out there. God is just teaching us patience in the process!

 

And finally, please continue to pray for our friends, churches and the people in Ukraine. The country of Ukraine, and the capital Kyiv especially, continues to be almost nightly attacked by rockets and dones. While much has been said and talked about politically, with President Zelensky's visit to the US this week, the fact of the matter is, people are still dying daily in Ukraine. And this is not even accounting for soldiers who are dying on the battlefield. Please pray that God would continue to protect and save lives, and that He would bring salvation, true, eternal salvation to many souls, in the midst of, and despite this war.

 

"Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder." Psalm 107:13-16

 

We thank the Lord for each of you and for your continued support for us both in prayer and financially. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

 

With much love and gratitude,

Your missionaries to Ukraine,

Joel & Loriann Matchak